


Strawberries in Winter

by SiaAriel



Series: Dragon Age Short Stories [2]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Caring!Carver, Developing Relationship, F/M, Helpful!Varric, Isabela doing what Isabela can do best, M/M, Rescue Mission, Sweet Merrill (Dragon Age), Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 04:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6358639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiaAriel/pseuds/SiaAriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merrill goes out to the sunderhills, Carver has to save her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberries in Winter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sam04](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam04/gifts).



Merrill was cold. Not just „I'll put another layer of cloth around my shoulders“-cold, but really freezing cold. She cursed herself for being so foolish and going to the sunderhills with her normal clothing, although Hawke and Anders and just _everybody_ had warned her, that the winter might be a little too harsh for it. But she loved walking around barefoot, loved her green tunic and the brown leggings. Just her bright green neckerchief neck provided her a little protection against the cold winds.  
  
She grabbed her staff and forced herself to keep walking. She wanted to see the sunderhils covered in snow and perhaps try to build a snowman, like Hawke suggested. She didn't even know what exactly a snowman was, but she imagined something like a humanoid thing made out of snow.  
  
Her thoughts went away from the cold, snow-covered hills to the more appealing and especially warm summer. She remembered running through the forests, searching for berries and how happy she was, when she found some of her favorite berries. She could almost taste those summer strawberries.  
  
Too trapped in her memories, she didn't see the root and tripped over it. She also didn't see that she had left the safe path and that that tree, to which the root belonged, stood near a small cliff. Merrill fell down the cliff and landed in a little snowdrift. She felt a pungent pain down her leg as she tried to stand up, and she realized, that she broke her ankle, when she fell.  
  
Again, she cursed herself, this time for going out alone. She rejected Carvers offering, because she wanted to be on her own, and she didn't know what exactly she felt when he was around. Now she wished he was there, helping her up or even carrying her back to her house down in Kirkwall. Surely, he could carry her all the way, he had strong arms and she was not more than a feather to him, so small and skinny was she.  
  
Merril shook her head and looked around for her staff. If she could find it, she could use it as crutch and perhaps find her way back. Gladly her staff didn't fall so much away from her and soon she saw it near the entrance of a cave. Careful she robbed to it and leaned against the wall of the cave. Suddenly she heard a rumble and a batch of snow fell down, right before the entrance. She made a jump deeper in the cave as she saw an avalanche rolling down the cliff and blocking the entrance. She was trapped in the cave and she was could and scared and all alone. She curled up on the could, hard ground and started to cry.

“She should have been back for hours now!” Carver said.  
  
“She'll be fine! She knows those hills.” Hawke answered and put another book in the shelve in his new chamber.  
  
Since they got back the Amell estate they both had much to do.  
  
“Yeah, but you saw her, how she went out. Barefoot and all, not even wearing a proper coat! She may know those hills in the summer, but it's winter and an especially cold one too.” Carver continued and watched his brother moving his belongings into his chamber.  
  
“Again, she will be fine! Probably she will be playing in the snow, trying to figure out how to build a snowman or even making friends with some snow bunnys, right now.” Hawke said without looking to his younger brother.  
  
“I will go and find her. I... just have a bad feeling.” sighted Carver and longed for his sword.  
  
“If you are right and she is fine, I said nothing.” he declared as he left the room.  
  
How could his brother be so uninterested sometimes? He asked himself, while he packed some things together. A quilt, made by his mother and another one they buyed years ago. A coat and some shoes for Merrill and of course a scarf, a hat and some gloves too. He threw them all into his backpack and put on his own gear.  
  
“I am leaving now!” he called and opened the door.  
  
But his brother was too occupied with decorating his new room, he didn't even give an answer.  
Carver sighted again and closed the door behind him. He shivered a little as he stepped out in the cold, although Kirkwall was a lot warmer than the hills that lay behind the city. Carver knew, he wouldn't find Merril alone and headed to the Hanged Man. Perhaps he could find Varric or Isabela to help him.  
  
He wondered as he saw Anders rushing over the plaza before the estate. He seemed to be in a hurry but as he saw Carver he slowed down.  
  
“Hey Anders, what's up? I don't see any templars around, no need to run.” Carver greeted him and cracked a smile.  
  
“Besides you? I hope so. I thought your brother would be alone?” Anders answered slowly, cautious.  
  
“He is. I was leaving because … we'll, I'm going to the Hanged Man.” Carver said and walked away.  
  
He didn't wonder why Anders asked him, if his brother was alone. They were both apostates and thus looking out for templars all the time. If he hadn't sworn his brother, that he won't reveal his true identity, they would be both in the Gallows. But even if he almost hated his brother, Caver knew, that family was stronger than their childish rivalry.  
  
He continued his walk to the Hanged Man and soon he entered the dark, smelly tavern.  
Once in, he saw Isabela drink one whiskey after another and decided not to ask her, if she could help him.  
So he climbed up the stairs to search for Varric and he found the dwarf sitting on his favorite chair and arguing with one of his publishers.  
  
“No! I am not going to write that! I like my works how they are. If you want that written down, go and do it by yourself! And now, leave my tavern!” Carver heard Varric yell and seconds later the publisher run away from the room where he came from.  
  
Varric followed him slowly and a smile was on his face.  
  
“Aaah, Junior. Nice to see you, lad. What can I do for you? Buy you a drink, because you're not old enough yet?” he joked and drew back a chair.  
  
“Sit down and tell me what brings you in here, while you could sit before a warm fire in your brothers estate?”  
  
Carver sat down and sipped on the ale, Varric had put in front of him.  
  
“I need your help.” he began und Varric chuckled.  
  
“They all do, my friend. You need to be a little more precise.” the dwarf answered and Carver nodded.  
  
“I want to find Merrill. She went out to the sunderhills this morning and hasn't been back by now. I think, something happened.” the young male explained and then silently waited for Varrics answer.  
  
“That truly does not sound good. Little daisy is made for a warm summer, not for this cold winter. Let me get some things and we can go.” Varric said and reached for Bianca.  
  
He got a coat and nodded at Carver. “Let's go and bring her back, Junior.”

  
  


Merril didn't feel her toes anymore. Her back hurt, her head hurt too and her fingers felt like icicles.  
  
She _knew_ it was a bad idea, going out alone and all that, but she still did it, and now she was cold and nearly dead.  
She had tried to make a fire, but without anything to burn, even a mage couldn't hold the spell up for long.  
So she sat down again on the hard ground, put her chin on her knees and wrapping her arms around the legs.  
  
The avalanche had blocked the entry of the cave, but had left a little chink on the very edge of the entry. The snow had formed a hard wall, which Merrill didn't try to climb because of her broken ankle, but it provided her with some protection against the cold wind outside.  
  
Merrill had lost her neckerchief, so she even didn't have that to wrap around her. The cave was too big, that it would get warm inside it, just because she was there, and it was almost totally empty.  
  
There were no signs of animal inhabitants, not even some mice showed up. Merrill prayed, that someone would miss her and go out to search her, but she saw the cave fall dark when it was evening, and now it had to be night.  
  
Her tears were long gone, but she kept shivering as if she was crying. She liked summer so much more than winter, she ever had. In winter there was no warm sun on her skin, no flowers, no bees and no strawberries.  
  
The cold around her lulled her to sleep, enticing her with warmth and rest. Merrill tried to resist but soon she fell asleep and dreamed from the summer again.

  
  


Carver and Varric run through Kirkwalls streets and out to the sunderhills.  
  
“Where would daysie go?” Varric asked himself and without answering his own question he started to go.  
  
Carver followed him, trying not to run past him as quickly as he could. He knew, he should let Varric find some traces and running headless in the first direction wouldn't help.  
  
So Carver tried to calm himself and let the dwarf do his job. Varric led the young male up a path to some of the offshoots of the sunderhills and soon he had found some footsteps in the snow.  
  
“Looks like someone left the path here... Could be Merrill, if you ask me. No heavy person, the footsteps aren't deep.” the dwarf explained and continued to follow the traces.  
  
After a few hundred meters up the hill he found a cliff where some snow had loosen itself and had crushed down. The footsteps had disappeared near the avalanche and Varric scratched his head.  
  
“Hopefully she didn't get caught in it. I think we must climb down, just to be shure.” he said.  
  
“I can tie a rope to the tree there.” Carver answered and put his backpack down.  
  
Varric went to the edge of the cliff, where he looked down.  
  
“Doesn't look like there's anything down there!” he called to Carver, who had wrapped the rope around the tree and started to climb down.  
  
Carver explored the cliff while Varric climbed down. Near one end he found a bright green piece of cloth.  
  
“I found something!” he yelled and brought the cloth to Varric.  
  
“Looks like Merrills neckerchief, if you ask me.” Carver said and Varric nodded.  
  
“Perhaps she fell down the cliff... Then she would have been caught in the avalanche! We need to search the snow where you found it!” the dwarf said and Carver pointed towards the end of the cliff.  
  
The two men started to shovel away the snow and after some minutes Carver had stuck his arm in an crack.  
  
“Help! Varric, I got stuck! There must be a cave or something like that behind this snow!” he cried.  
  
After the dwarf hat pulled him out they managed to make the crack a little bit bigger and Carver slipped through it. He fell about one meter and a half till he reached the ground.  
  
“Merrill? Merril are you here?” he called out and searched his backpack for a torch.

  
  


Merrill dreamed. She dreamed of a warm summer day, the wind that made the leaves whisper and she was in the forest. She had searched for berries again, but this time it was different.  
  
The forest seemed dark to her and the shadows were cold as ice. She was frightened, but also cheerful.  
  
Then, she hear a voice call “Merrill? Merril are you here?” and she tried to remember, if she was there with Carver.  
  
She thought he may have come with her, and they had played hide and seek, while they had seached for the sweetest strawberries.  
  
His voice was warm and comfortable and she looked out, if she could see him, but there were only the shadows. They came nearer and she could feel the cold bite on her skin. She cried as the first one touched her arm.  
  
“Carver! Carver help me!” she moaned. 

  
  


Carver had heard Merrills voice and crashed down to her.   
  
“I'm here. I'm here. Everything will be good. Don't worry. I'm here.” he whispered in her hear and drew her on his lap.   
  
She was cold, and her fingers started to turn blue. Quickly he fished out the quilt of his mother and wrapped it around her.   
  
“Do you have her?” Varric yelled and loked through the crack.   
  
“Yes, but she is undercooled! We need to bring her back as quickly as we can!” Carver answered and lifted Merrill up.  
  
She didn't wake up, as he reached her over to Varric who carefully drew her through the crack. Carver quickly climbed up the snow wall and followed her. Outside the cave he tied a rope around her, so he could lift her up the cliff with the rope they had used to climb it down. They hurried to bring her back to Kirkwall, to the Amell estate where Carver safely put her into his bed.  
  
“Anders! I know you are here, so come out and help me or I'll drag you to the Gallows myself!” he yelled at his brothers closed door and minutes later a rather disheveled Anders opened the door.  
  
“Yes, yes, I'm coming. What is wrong with you? You are totally...” the mage answered, but as he saw Merrill he shut his mouth and focused on the elvish girl.  
  
“What happened to her?” he asked and looked at Carver.   
  
“She got trapped in an avalanche, out in the sunderhills. We found her and brought her back.” Varric said and looked at the mage.  
  
“We hoped you could help her, unless you don't have another patient first.” he continued and a sly smile stole into his face.  
  
“No, go and get some hot water! And more blankets! And some towels too!” Anders commanded.   
  
“Hold her, Carver. I will try to wake her and it won't be the nice way to do it.” he said and prepared a spell.   
  
Carver did as he was said and leaned Merrill against his chest. Anders shot a small lightning at her and with a gasp, Merrill opened her eyes.   
  
“Carver... Did you find some strawberries?” she asked quietly and nestled against his chest.   
  
“I think, we should take a bath...” he whispered softly and put his cheek against her cold, yet soft hair.

  
  


_**The End** _

**Author's Note:**

> This is a promt for my best friend.  
> Her wish was a fiction about Merril, Carver, strawberries and snow.  
> I also know that she likes Anders/Male Mage Hawk and Varric, so that was easy to add.  
> I hope you like it!


End file.
